Vinyl guy seeking recommendation for a top level cd player
Wavetouch audio modded Oppo BDP-95 is the world's best CD, SACD, FLAC player. I've been in audio shows and stores. I've been searching on-line to find a better sound system. They all are sounding vague and bright behind veils. Audio signal is fragile and delicate. Unfortunately, all audio signals are broken right at the source in all audio systems. Only WT modded BDP-95 is done right. Alex/Wavetouch audio |
The Oppo BDP-95 is an almost 15 years old product made by a Chinese company that "In April 2018, OPPO Digital announced they were stopping production and development of new products but would continue to support existing customers". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppo_Digital No matter how good a modded Oppo may be, it is a niche player based on a discontinued product by a company than now manufactures smartphones and not disc players. There are serious high end manufacturers of cd players who continue to push the boundaries and innovate such as Luxman, Accuphase, Esoteric etc. They are the present and future of cd playback. |
One of the things that Marantz discusses and that they patented is their circuitry that uploads everything to DSD. Presumably to do that there is an iteration process in their chips to fill in the missing data points. I am quite sure Luxman does something similar, they just are mum about exactly what they are doing. PS Audio also discuss this subject specifically related to uploading to DSD. What is clear is that the technology is progressing. |
It seems that companies like Accuphase, Esoteric, Luxman and Marantz are still supporting CD's which may make a comeback to some degree, especially when comparing the relative bargin to vinyl. It will be interesting to hear about the new flagship Marantz SACD. I have found the Marantz players to be a little polite in their presentation but never had the top level ones only a modified 8005 so the comparison is probably not valid. I will say that my Esoteric K-03XD is a wonderful player and they have voiced it very well without any etching in the upper registers. I usually use a violin as a test of the upper frequencies and if it passes that test we are off to a good start. |
Your finding that Marantz players are a little polite is a good way of describing the difference between the voicing of my SA10 and my D-10X. At least it is that way with the standard settings. It is possible to alter the sound characteristics of the SA10, though. Using your violin test, the way I might describe it is that the SA10 mimics the sound of a traditionally strung instrument, whereas the D-10X sounds like a modern tuning. Again that is alterable by changing settings for what they call "NoiseShaper," which is the digital filter, and Dither. Interestingly enough, even though the filter should not be adjusted for SACD, it can be, and dong so makes quite a difference. Fun to play with. The most important thing, though, is that the sound quality, particularly of Redbook, rivals analog and given the current price disparity that makes owning a good cd player a distinct advantage. Most of the music I am interested in is all but missing from the streaming services. Vinyl in good shape is getting more and more difficult to find and when it is found it is either in poor shape or it is crazy expensive or both. CD re-issues are becoming more widely available and at very reasonable prices. There is a reason that cd sales are on the rise. |
